who are under investigation for any kind of misdeed, criminal or civil, as victims of a society which is automatically prejudiced against them. This appears to be especially true if the person involved is well-known or has held a recognised place in Bermuda's life.

We think the tendency is dangerous because it interferes with the course of justice. It tampers with justice because it assumes that justice is not evenly applied and that some people, because of who they are, are not being justly treated.

This thinking also tends to assume something much more sinister, that there is political influence on the justice system and that that influence is used against certain people. This thinking, of course, is damaging to the very nature of an independent judiciary. It also damages the very society in which we live.

For many years Bermuda has been well served by a Bench which has been remarkably free and independent and reasonably talented.

Some of this adverse thinking comes about because criminal lawyers, bent on serving their client, often blame the system for convicting their client and ignore the evidence in a case. It has become fashionable in courts for the defence to sway the emotions of a jury rather than defend a client through evidence or logic. Emotional defences seem to us to have been adopted from the American legal system where they cause chaos.

The jury system succeeds when an accused person's peers reach an informed decision which is not fanciful but based on whether or not there is reasonable doubt. The system was not designed to rest on emotions and should not be based on claims that accused persons did whatever they did because they are victims of today's society. Adults are accountable for their actions.

It is clear, of course, that we live in a society where it is fashionable to claim to be a victim of circumstances. But more than that, if you can lay claim to being a victim, you can use that claim to excuse the most outrageous behaviour. We have seen that often in Bermuda. No matter how many opportunities a person has had, no matter how level their playing field has been and no matter even if that playing field has been tilted in their favour, they make a mess of their lives and then claim: "Poor me, I'm a victim.'' They are not, of course, a victim of anything but their own actions but they do often get consideration way beyond what they deserve. The sad thing is that finding an excuse for poor performance and for failure to reach potential is ultimately self-defeating. But more than that, when used by people who have had advantages, it sets a bad example for other people who, if they follow, take the easy way to ruin.

We have to learn to apply justice evenly according to the law and simply to let justice take its course. Sympathy, while natural, should not be used to subvert what is right.